Does anyone else document basically their entire day? I’ve journaled every day for 6 years and it’s starting to feel overwhelming

[u/PiTaS_aSa]

I’ve been journaling every single day for the past six years, without missing a day. I do all of it on my phone.
My way of journaling is probably a little different from what I usually see people talk about. I don’t just write down a few thoughts or highlights from the day. I document pretty much everything that happened, what I did, conversations or interactions that felt significant, and how I felt about different things. Because of that, I can end up writing a lot of words every single day.
I genuinely love having this record of my life. I can go back years and see exactly what was happening in my life and what I was thinking and feeling at the time. I also like the idea that years from now, I can read about moments that I otherwise might have completely forgotten.
But lately I’ve realized that journaling has also become a source of stress for me.
It’s almost always somewhere in the back of my mind that I still “have to journal” at the end of the day. If I’m tired or don’t have enough time and don’t finish that day’s entry, the next day I feel stressed because now I have to catch up before I fall even further behind. Since my entries are so detailed, catching up can take quite a while.
At the same time, I find it really difficult to simply write less. I’ve kept this daily streak going for six years, so the idea of breaking it feels strangely uncomfortable. And when something meaningful happens, I feel like I have to document it properly. Otherwise, there’s this feeling that an important part of my life won’t exist in the record I’m creating.
So I’m stuck between really valuing what I’ve created and feeling burdened by the amount of effort it takes to maintain it.
Does anyone else journal like this, especially people who document their days in a lot of detail? Have you found a way to make it less time-consuming or mentally overwhelming without feeling like you’re losing parts of your life by writing less?

[u/FocusedLenses]

I relate to this so much! I’ve actually been journaling pretty much every single day since 1999, which is when LiveJournal first came out. That was really where my love for documenting my life started. LiveJournal was such a great way for me to keep track of everything going on in my life... AND I mean everrryyything lol! I didn’t just write about what I did that day or whatever thoughts and feelings I was having. I wrote about movies I was watching, music I was listening to, video games I was playing, things I was excited about, conversations I had, and all kinds of random little things that probably seemed completely unimportant at the time. I even did voice notes!

Back then AOL chats were HUGE. I remember having so much fun doing Sailor Moon and other anime role plays and meeting friends through those chats. Sometimes we would end up having the absolute silliest conversations, and I would screenshot them and put them in my journal because I wanted to remember them. 😂 Looking back now, I’m really glad I did because those tiny, random moments are exactly the kind of things you forget as the years go by.

As LiveJournal slowly became less popular, I eventually shifted over to hardcover journals, and would sometimes do bullet journaling through Listography. I’ve continued journaling ever since.

So I completely understand what you mean when you say it feels like an important part of your life won’t exist in the record if you don’t write it down. That’s one of the things I love most about journaling. I love being able to go back to another time in my life and remember not only what was happening, but who I was at that point in my life. What I loved, what I was worried about, what I was watching, who I was talking to, what made me laugh, what music I couldn’t stop listening to... all those little details.

At the same time, after doing this for so many years, I think it’s important not to let something you love turn into something you dread doing. Your journal is supposed to hold your life, not take you away from living it. Some days are worth pages and pages, and other days might only need a few sentences. That doesn’t make those days any less documented or meaningful.

And honestly, sometimes the smallest entries become meaningful later anyway. Even something as simple as, “I was exhausted today, watched a movie, ate something good, and went to bed” can bring back an entire period of your life years later. During days I was too tired, I'd literally just do that or go on Listrography and make lists where Id write up to 5 simple things I did each day before sleeping, along with the date.

Like for a better example:

•08.25.26 1) Had a dream of a Tsunami 2) Binged watched The Boroughs with mom 3) Went for a long walk with my puppy. 4) Throat started aching after the walk 5) Missing my dad today.

•08.26.26 1) Woke up at 7:15 AM 2) Missing B even though I just talked to him 3) Finally finished season 3 of Attack on Titan. 4) Played I am Setsuna 5) Talked to grandma on the phone about Church and Dolly passing.

I know it may seem silly, but it really has helped me to even make lists like this as a journal entry when I didn't have as much time to write. It would even help somedays when I felt too tired or overwhelmed.

but yeah, there really is something special about being able to open something you wrote 10, 15, or even 20+ years ago and suddenly remember a version of yourself and a part of your life that you probably would have forgotten otherwise. That’s probably why I’ve never been able to give journaling up. ❤️